Laptop Woes

gowest · January 26th, 2009, 11:32 AM

I aquired an Acer Travelmate 4010 from my company when they went out of business. Due to all the stuff they had on it and removed from it, I need to reformat the hard drive.

When I went to the bios, wouldn't you know it, they password protected it.
Of course I don't have a clue what it is or could be.

Acer wants me to take it to one of their dealers and pay over 100 for they to fix it.

I know that All I have to do is remove the cmos battery for a short time and the password will go away.

I took the back off of my laptop and could not find the cmos battery. Can anyone tell me where it is? I am at my wits end with this crazy computer and am about ready to use it for target practice.

stroyal · January 26th, 2009, 11:45 AM

I'm not familiar with that laptop, but the battery probably won't look like a desktop battery.
The one in my laptop is wrapped in plastic and has wires with a plug on the end that looks like a 9 volt battery plug.

gowest · January 26th, 2009, 11:53 AM

I didn't seen anything that looked like that or a watch battery. Where can I can find it?

**RobRich** · January 26th, 2009, 12:07 PM

The CMOS battery is connected to the motherboard, and it could even be mounted via solder joints. Notebook manufacturers are known for some strange layouts.

Translation? You might have to actually remove the motherboard depending upon how your notebook is assembled. If that is the case, then I could understand why a technician would charge $100 to fix the problem, as some notebooks can be a serious pain to disassemble.

stroyal · January 26th, 2009, 12:09 PM

Mine is under the touch pad (Sony) it is figure 8 shape, like 2 small watch batteries side by side wrapped in plastic. I'll see if I can find manual.

stroyal · January 26th, 2009, 12:20 PM

The only manual I could find was in French and had no picture of a battery.
And I WAS considering getting an ACER laptop.
Their download sight is useless. What is the problem with just having the manuals and drivers in plane sight for download. Any good company would.

gowest · January 26th, 2009, 12:53 PM

Thanks for your help. I was told that it might be under the keyboard. I don't know how to get to it if it is there.

stroyal · January 26th, 2009, 01:07 PM

The 3 laptops I have had, there were 2 or 3 screws on the bottom that released the keyboard.

Sony and Compaq.

gowest · January 26th, 2009, 01:50 PM

I will give it a shot. Thanks.

stroyal · January 26th, 2009, 02:03 PM

Hay. I just checked my old Compaq, and that has a switch on the bottom to release the keyboard. My Sony has 2 screws.